Bio-SWIPE filter DI Water Flush

On March 24th,2015 we performed a DI water flush of the portable Bio-SWIPE filter. Our Hypothesis was that Ammonium and Nitrate would decrease over time because micro-organisms inside the filter would no longer be reacting and releasing nitrogen.  A common phenomenon that takes place in Bio-filters that utilize organic materials as the filtration medium is that there is a release of nitrogen compounds. This process is called Nitrification. Inorganic nitrogen compounds that are released include: NH4+, NH3, No3 and N02. Basically when micro-organisms consume a pollutant such as a metal entering the filter, they also use oxygen. As a result, the by product of this reaction is the release of organic nitrogen compounds. This has been observed in numerous other studies involving bio-filters. One example I found includes a year long study on a Full size Bio-filter in Barcelona, Spain. One of the findings in this study was “the accumulation of nitrogen in the bio-filter”. The effluent water was probe tested for Ammonium (NH4+) and Nitrate (NO3-) three times per 5 gallon bucket of DI water flushed. The end results indicated a decrease in both Ammonium and Nitrate. The initial Ammonium concentration during trial 1 was 3.37 mg/l and in the final trial it was 0.89 mg/l. The initial NO3 concentration was 93.33 mg/l and in the final trial it was 62.48 mg/l. Results are that Ammonium decreased 76.3%, and Nitrate decreased 33% during the test. 

 

Here I am trying my best to empty a 5 gallon bucket at a rate of 100 gallons per hour. This was done so by emptying the buckets for 3 minutes at a steady, even rate. Most of our tests (except for the first one) have been tested at this flow rate.